Joseph Tabor, Master to pass with her company, passengers and goods and merchandize without any sizure or molestation. June 1841, signed by the President, Martin Van Buren.
The bark PANTHEON left New Bedford June 9, 1841 and returned February 25, 1845.
This unique document was carried by the American Whaling Barque PANTHEON of New Bedford as she set sail on a nearly four year voyage under the command of her Captain Joseph Taber. It was issued to guarantee proof of American origin while in foreign waters. After 1831, whalers were the primarily users of these national documents, once issued for specific travel to and through the seas of the Barbary Coast. The pre-paid passports would offer the ship and crew protection from those who engaged in the practice of capturing American vessels and holding both ship and crew for ransom.
It is marked with the number issued to date for that year, 31, just above the seal. Signed by President Martin Van Buren and his Secretary of State, it was issued on June 3, 1841. PANTHEON, 271 tons and with a crew of 22, set out on the 9th, and after extensive whaling cruises off South America in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, she would send or bring home 800 barrels of Sperm Whale oil, 600 barrels of whale oil and 6,000 pounds of usable whalebone.
